What's covered
Key facts
The Black Death weakened feudalism long-term because labour shortages raised peasants' bargaining power and made surviving workers harder to coerce.
The Black Death first reached England in 1348.
John Ball, a radical preacher, preached social equality during the Peasants' Revolt; his catchphrase was "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?".
Around a third to a half of England's population died from the Black Death.
Peasant wages rose after the Black Death because labour was scarce after so many deaths — not because the King or Parliament ordered higher pay.
A common KS3 figure is that about one third of England's people died of the plague (with estimates running up to half).
The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was a major English uprising partly triggered by the unpopular poll tax that followed the Black Death.
The Black Death originated in central Asia and spread westwards along trade routes before reaching England in 1348.
The Peasants' Revolt did not formally end serfdom in 1381; serfdom faded gradually over the following century.
The Black Death was a plague pandemic that killed roughly a third of Europe's population in the late 1340s.
Sample questions
A taste of the 30 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What 1351 law tried to freeze peasant wages at pre-plague levels?
- •The Act of Supremacy
- •The Domesday Statute
- •The Provisions of Oxford
- ✓The Statute of Labourers
Where did the Black Death originate before reaching England in 1348?
- ✓Central Asia, spread along trade routes
- •Egypt, brought back by returning Crusaders
- •Iceland, carried on Viking fishing ships
- •South America, before voyages began there
Why did the Black Death weaken feudalism long-term?
- ✓Labour shortages raised peasant bargaining power
- •Plague killed all the nobles but no peasants
- •The king abolished feudalism by royal decree
- •Trade with France replaced the feudal system
Roughly what proportion of England's population died from the Black Death?
- ✓Around a third to a half
- •Around five per cent
- •Around ten per cent
- •Nearly the whole country
How did the Black Death change English society?
- •It led directly to England's separation from the Catholic faith
- •It strengthened the Church's authority over daily village life
- •It triggered new wars of conquest across France and Spain
- ✓Labour shortages forced higher wages and weakened the feudal system
What was the Black Death?
- •A famine caused by repeated harvest failures across northern Europe
- ✓A plague pandemic that killed roughly a third of Europe's population
- •A war between rival kingdoms over trade routes in the Mediterranean
- •An outbreak of religious unrest that targeted minority communities
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